Head to head
Foursquare Places vs TomTom
As a maps & geocoding API, TomTom rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 80.6 to 77.4, a 3.2-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Foursquare Places | TomTom |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 77.4 | 80.6 |
Specifications
| Foursquare Places | TomTom | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Places/POI search & geotagging | Maps, routing & traffic |
| Free tier | $200/mo credit + 500 free Pro calls | 50k tile + 2.5k non-tile req/day |
| Pricing | Per call (volume-based) | Per 1k req (tile/non-tile) |
| Official SDKs | 9 languages | 5 languages |
Is Foursquare Places better than TomTom?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, TomTom rates higher (80.6 vs 77.4). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
TomTom leads by 3.2 points (80.6 vs 77.4) and wins 2 of 4 criteria; Foursquare Places wins 1.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 78 | 76 | |
| Reliability | 80 | 85 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 68 | 78 | |
| Accessibility | 85 | 85 | Tie |
Choose Foursquare Places if… / choose TomTom if…
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (78 vs 76)
- →you need broad SDK coverage (9 official SDKs vs 5)
- →your use case matches its focus: places/poi search & geotagging
- →reliability matters most to you (85 vs 80)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (78 vs 68)
- →your use case matches its focus: maps, routing & traffic
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Per call (volume-based)
- Free tier
- $200/mo credit + 500 free Pro calls
- Free (Sandbox)$0
- Pro Endpoints (pay-as-you-go)$15.00 CPM (per 1,000)
- Premium Endpoints (pay-as-you-go)$18.75 CPM (per 1,000)
- Ask API$30.00 CPM (Pro) / $36.00 CPM (Premium)
- EnterpriseCustom
- FSQ OS Places (open dataset)Free (Apache 2.0)
- Model
- Per 1k req (tile/non-tile)
- Free tier
- 50k tile + 2.5k non-tile req/day
- FreemiumFree
- Pay As You GrowUsage-based (prepaid overage)
- EnterpriseCustom contract
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-06-27 (Foursquare Places) and 2026-06-27 (TomTom).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 0
None
Only Foursquare Places · 9
iOS / Swift (Places & Movement SDK)Android (Places & Movement SDK)React NativeJavaScript / web (Address Autofill, Web Place Search samples)Python (API samples, bulk harmonization)REST / HTTP (v3 API)Postman collectionModel Context Protocol (official foursquare-places-mcp server)Apache Spark (FSQ OS Places dataset access)
Only TomTom · 5
Maps & Navigation SDK for AndroidMaps & Navigation SDK for iOSMaps SDK for JavaScript (TypeScript support)Navigation SDK for MobileREST APIs (language-agnostic / HTTP)
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Deep, structured venue data: 100M+ POIs with a 1,500+ category taxonomy, stable category IDs, attributes, hours, and user-generated tips/photos
- +Explicitly Google-independent POI source, appeals to companies that compete with Google or want to avoid Maps Platform lock-in
- +Transparent pay-as-you-go CPM pricing with a 10,000-call/month free Pro tier and no card required to start
- –Restrictive, revocable API data license, data generally can't be stored, merged, or redistributed outside your application
- –Coverage and freshness can trail Google outside dense urban / US / Western markets, and tip/photo depth varies
- –Premium endpoints (tips, photos, ratings) have no free tier and start at $18.75 per 1,000 calls
- +Proprietary real-time and historical traffic data sourced from billions of connected-vehicle/probe points, among the most accurate available
- +Generous, no-credit-card free tier: 50,000 tile + 2,500 non-tile requests/day with commercial use allowed
- +More permissive licensing than Google (can display results over non-TomTom basemaps; fewer caching restrictions)
- –Low default rate limits on self-serve plans (commonly ~5 QPS for many endpoints) until raised under contract
- –No official first-party Flutter SDK; developers must use third-party plugins
- –Smaller developer community and fewer third-party tutorials/Stack Overflow answers than Google or Mapbox
Foursquare Places vs TomTom: questions
- Which has better documentation, Foursquare Places or TomTom?
- Foursquare Places scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 78 vs 76 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, Foursquare Places or TomTom?
- TomTom scores higher on reliability: 85 vs 80 out of 100.
- Do Foursquare Places and TomTom have a free tier?
- Foursquare Places: yes ($200/mo credit + 500 free Pro calls). TomTom: yes (50k tile + 2.5k non-tile req/day).
- How are Foursquare Places and TomTom priced?
- Foursquare Places: Per call (volume-based). TomTom: Per 1k req (tile/non-tile).
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Foursquare Places lists 9 official SDKs, TomTom lists 5.